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Knitting Gloves

© Suzanne Griffith

Mittens are nice for children. They're good for adults, too, and I suspect they are a little warmer than gloves. Mittens protect the fingers better than gloves, and they can be lined with plenty of warm stuff. Fleece can be carried in the back (inside) of your knitting -- pencil roving works well for this. And I would imagine that double-knitted mittens with a layer of angora on the inside would be cozy on a cold day. Unless I'm going to go out in the snow for a while, though, I prefer gloves. I first discovered the advantage of gloves when I was about to get on a bus and tried to get change out of my purse with mittens on. For those of us who value our hard-won manual dexterity, gloves are it.

But, but, you say! Gloves are hard! They are not. They are not hard. They are a little bit complicated. I made a pair of gloves when my knitting skills were at the beginning, or maybe low intermediate, level. They were not perfect, but they were pretty and kept my hands warm, and I was the only person I knew who had handspun, handknit gloves. Gloves can warm the heart of the knitter as well as the hands.

I made gloves before I made mittens, but it might be easier to make mittens first so you can get used to making a thumb. If you haven't made mittens but have made socks, a thumb is like the "afterthought" sock heel. The glove or mitten is knitted up the point where the thumb separates from the rest of the hand and enough stitches are put on a holder to start the thumb later. You then continue with the main part of the hand. (Putting the stitches on a contrasting length of yarn works well to keep the thumb stitches out of your way.) Everything else on a mitten or glove involves normal, everyday knitting skills like ribbing and increasing. Mittens are so much like socks that, if you're working from the top down (vs. toe-up or fingers first), you can change your mind and switch your garment from sock to mitten or glove and vice versa after you have finished the cuff or ribbing.

Gloves are identical to mittens except for the fingers, and the difference is what makes gloves something of a challenge. Glove needles (short double-pointed needles) are a great help in knitting the fingers. Fingers can be knitted with regular DPNs, but it's awkward, believe me! There are four ways that I know to do glove fingers:

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